Sal Nunziato has an interesting post on people’s reactions to Bon Jovi playing at JazzFest over at the Huffington Post. (Don’t be put off by the title, it’s about Bon Jovi.)
Basically, he tidily refutes the small horde of haters that follow Bon Jovi pretty much wherever they go. You go dude.
The one thing I will say is that performing at JazzFest is an odd choice for Bon Jovi stylistically, but like he says, a lot of artists get invited to JazzFest that aren’t even remotely jazz musicians. And let’s face it, it can be kind of hard for music festivals to sustain themselves on an extremely narrow genre. To bring in extra cash, it usually makes sense for festival planners to invite at least a few pop-focused acts.
It’s probably also good for the other artists that do play jazz. A few artists like Bon Jovi will bring in concert attendees that otherwise wouldn’t listen to jazz music. Like I said yesterday about rock artists releasing country albums, some degree of genre crossing can be good for record sales. It introduces new music to people that otherwise might not hear it. I bet there are some people who bought their first jazz CDs after going to JazzFest to see Bon Jovi. That can only be good for the artists who released those CDs.
And besides, from a purely economic point of view, it makes sens for Bon Jovi to do any concert booking they can get. All publicity is good publicity and helps them sell records and build buzz for their next one. Jon has always been one to look at the bottom line.
Anyway, the article rules. Go read it. He pokes a lot of massive holes through the arguments that rock snobs like to make when putting Bon Jovi down.
Related posts:
- Commentary: Jon’s Interview with E!
- Commentary: Australian Interview with Jon
- Nov. 4 Today Show Commentary
- Inside the Actor’s Studio Commentary
- Philly Eye Candy Commentary…
Tags: Bon Jovi